Fountain-pen holder



Oct. 22, 1929. c. G. GREGORY FOUNTAIN PEN HOLDER Filed April 1926 2 Sheets-Shee Izzaezz/ar. CZrre y 6T reyory.

C. G. GREGORY FOUNTAIN PEN HOLDER Fild April 8, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 w h f 4 w W/Q m w M Wm mfi/ 7% w P 2/2 a MN a 6 Zi a.

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Patented Oct. v22, 1929 PATENT OFFICE CAREY G. GREGORY, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA FOUNTAIN-PEN HOLDER Application filed April 8,

This invention has to do generally with the desk pen holders, and is more particularly concerned withholders for fountain pens. It has been found desirable to provide desk holders adapted to hold fountain pens in a substantially upright position, thus placing the en'where it may always be found guickly y the writer and be always in conition for immediate use. The general desirability of such holders from the stand point-of handiness and desk neatness is well known and therefore need not be discussed here.

- However, it is a common sourceof annoy ance to have the ink dry within the eye and slit of the pen to such an extent that if the pen be left in its holder for any considerable time, the ink refuses to flow. This condition leads to the untidy and often harmful prac tice of jarring the pen, or to the necessity of wiping the back of the pen over a blotter or hand in order to induce ink flow. Therefore, it is among the objects of my invention to provide a holder so devised that the ink will 25 flowfrom the pen immediately upon its withdrawal from the holder, even though the pen may have been standing for a considerable period. Generally, this is accomplished by the provision of a wiping member adapted to wipe the pen point during both entry into and withdrawal from the holder. Preferably this wipin takes place from eye to tip of the point, rawing fresh ink from the eye to the tip and inducin ink flow. Furthermore, since the chamber elow the wiper is more or less airtight, the drying of ink on the point is retarded to an appreciable extent.

The drawing of the point over the wiper alsocreates a slight sucking action tending to pull the ink to the writing tip and thus inswing flow as soon as the point is touched to a writing surface. I

The particular nature of the wipers used, and certain other novel structural features of the holder, proper, may be pointed'out to better advantage in connection with the following detailed description, reference beingmade 'to the accompanying drawings, in

Fig. 1 shows a medial section through a 1926. Serial No. 100,509.

holder embodying my invention, a pen being shown as inserted therein;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 shows a variational embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section of the wiper shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a section through another varia' tional embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but showing a-pen inserted in the holder; and

1 Fig. 7 is another variational embodiment of the invention.

The body member of the holder is indicated at 10, and may be described as a barrel having a longitudinal bore 11. At the upper end of the barrel is an external annular flange 12 which presents a downwardly facing shoulder 13, while the other end 14 of the barrel is threaded at 15 so it may be screwed into the threaded bore 16 of base 17 Preferably, barrel 10 is made of hard rubber, or the like, and there may be an ornamental housing or shell 18 about the barrel and on top the base. The barrel is entered through a central aperture 19 in the housing, and then screwed down into base 17, the housing being compressed between the base and shoulder 13 and thereby held against displacement; the threaded connection 15, 16 thus serving to hold the entire holder in assembly. Housing 18 may be of ornamental configuration to give it pleasing appearance and may be of any suitable material, colored or otherwise. For instance, a very pleasing effect is gained. by coloring the shell to match fountaln pen P.

Intermediate the ends of bore 11 is an internal annular flange 20 which presents a downwardly facing and preferably squarecut, annular shoulder 21, and an upwardly facing conical shoulder 22. The internal flange divides bore 11 into pen point receiving compartment 23 and the .funnel shaped or flaring portion 24. The portion 25 of the bore defined by flange 20 may be termed the entry mouth of the pen-point receiving corr ivpartment.

ithin compartment 23 is held a wiper generally designated by IV, and, as will hereinafter be made apparent, this wiper may be located and held in the bore in a variety of manners and may be made of diiferent substances without departing from the spirit and scope of my broader claims, but I will now describe the preferable characteristics of the wiper shown in Fig. 1. lViper V is in the form of a ring of felt or the like, the substance preferably being somewhat resilient and absorptive. The ring is preferably, though not necessarily, glued or cemented to the walls of the barrel and is positioned innnediately adjacent the entry mouth 25, the upper edge of the ring bearing against the downwardly facing shoulder 21. The aperture 27 of the ring preferably is in axial alinement with bore 11, but said aperture is of lesser diameter than entry mouth 25 so the ring extends radially inward beyond the outline of said mouth.

When pen P is thrust into .he holder, point 28 passes downwardly through aperture 27, the ring wiping the pen point longitudinally along its slit 29 from tip 30 to eye 31. The end of the pen is adapted to engage conical shoulder 22 to limit the downward movement of point 28, the flaring characteristic of bore portion 24 rendering it a matter of ease to enter the pen, and the tapering characteristics of shoulder 22 rendering the holder capable of receiving pens of different diameter. Preferably, ring W is of such limited vertical extent, that when the downward movement of the pen is stopped by reason of shoulder 22, the eye 31 of the pen lies below the wiper. There is then no liability of the absorbent material of the wiper drawing ink out through eye 31 while the pen is within the holder.

Compartment 23 closed to a certain extent by reason of the Wiper about the pen point and the engagement of the end of the pen with shoulder 22-, so the drying out of theink from eye 31 and slit 29 is retarded to an appreciable extent; \Vhen the pen is withdrawn from the well or -point receiving chamber. ring IV wipes the point from eye to tip, drawing fresh ink through the eye along the slit to the tip,inducing the flow of ink to said tip so the pen will write the instant it is touched to the paper.

Should the pen leak while it is within the holder, the leakage will be caught within compartment 23 and held from damaging the desk upon which the holder rests.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a somewhat difi'er-' ent type of wiper and retention means therefor. In this figure wiper W is in the form of a comparatively hard rubber washer 32, having its aperture 33 substantially in alinement with entry mouth 25 defined by flange 20 (generally similar to flange 20) within the bore 11 of barrel 10. The washer is held against downwardly facing shoulder 21 of flange 20 by a bushing or sleeve 3t which is fitted into the lower portion of bore 11. The bushing may be held within the barrel by reason of a press lit, or may be positioned by virtue of its engagement with the bottom wall 36 of the threaded bore 37 provided in base 17, this bore being adapted to take threadably the end 38 of barrel 10*.

Preferably, the washer 32 has the cross sectional characteristics shown in Fig. 41, the under face 39 of the washer being somewhat concave, and the upper face 40 thereof inclining inwardly and downwardly, so the washer may be described as tapering inwardly towards its aperture to form a feather edge 41.

Bushing 3 L annularly defines pen point receiving chamber 23, and washer aperture 33 is of such diameter that when pen point 28 is thrust downwardly down through the washer and into chamber 23, the washer will hug the pen point comparatively snugly at a point above its eye 31, thus closing compartment 23 and rendering it comparatively air-tight so the drying of the ink in the eye and slit is retarded.

As the point is thrust into position, the free, inner edge of the washer moves downwardly into the position shown. Then when the pen 'is withdrawn from the holder, the wiper is pulled back at least to normal position, and sometimes so it projects at its free edge somewhatinto mouth 25 wiping the pen point from eye to tip and drawing the ink to said tip so the pen is ready for writing as soon as it is touched to paper. Should the ink refuse to flow, the pen may be plunged into the holder repeatedly, until the combined jarring action and wiping action causes the pen to flow, compartment 23 providing a receptacle to hold any free ink which may be dislodged by this action.

In Fig. 5 I have shown another variation which is generally similar to the form shown in Fig. 3, except that washer 32 is omitted and bushing or sleeve 34f is provided with a closed end 42, so it becomes, in effect, a cup, preferably being made out of hard rubber or the like. Parts of the holder which are similar to those shown in Fig. 3, are given the same reference numerals. Within cup-bushing 34 is provided wiper W", this wiper being bottomed within the cup and consisting of an ink retentive substance, and being pliable, yieldable and resilient. I find that sponge rubber is particularly well adapted for the purpose, for by its very nature it yields readily, to allow the pen 'point 28 to be thrust thereinto, as shown in Fig. 6, without damage to the pen, and will spring back to the normal position of Fig. 5 as soon as the pen has been withdrawn. The sponge rubber preferably though not necessarily, extends-to such a helght that when the pen point is plunged thereinto, the rubber contacts with the point above eye 31.

Now sponge rubber has such characteristics that while it retains suchink as may be deposited in its cells when the point is thrust thereinto, it is not absorbent in the sense that it passes the ink along from cell to cell. This is for the reason that 1n sponge rubber the individual cells are ordinarily sealed, one from another, although the external cut face of the rubber, which is dragged into contact with holder, the ink-moist rubber wipes over the tion in the other figures.

point from eye to tip and insures anink flow as soon as the pen is touched to paper. By reason of its inherent resiliency, therubber snugly engages the pen while itis held within the holder and retards drying of the ink within the eye. Should the pen leak, the leakage is caught within the cup and taken up by the exterior, exposed cells of the rubber and is thus prevented from gathering in a body which would spill from the holder should the latter be tipped over.

In Fig. 7 is shown a variation wherein both wipers W and IV are used, these wipers being similar to those given the same designa- The two wipers preferably are longitudinally spaced apart, and each performs its function as described above. The combination of the wipers has this advantage, however; the sponge wiper W. insures that moist ink is kept on the penpoint, while the upper washer W wipes off any superfluous ink that may bejeft on the point when it leaves the lower wiper W. The upper washer has the further function of sealing the joint J between the cup bushing 34 and barrel 10, so, in the event free ink is present within the cup, it may not leak through said joint. The washer W also engages the point 28 with sufiicient firmness to insure that pen P is retained in a substantially upright position or substantially in coaxial relation with the barrel, even though the funnel portion 24* of the barrel bore be considerably larger than the pen barrel. Thus the pen is held substantially upright without requiring that the barrel of the hold er closely embrace the barrel of the pen, it therefore being a matter'of ease toenter and withdraw the pen without danger of damage ing either. I

It will be noted that the various wipers not only serve to initiate ink flow to the pen tip, but also wipe the pointin a manner to keep it clean and free from accumulation of dried ink or foreign matter, thus insuring that the pen be kept in a workable condition at all times.

It will be understood thedrawings and description are to be considered merely as illustrative of and not restrictive on the broader claims appended hereto, for various changes in design, structure and arrangement may be made without departing frolnith'e spirit and scope of said claims.

I claim:

I 1. In a holder for fountain pens, a member having a pen point receiving chamber with an entry mouth, and a pen-point wiper in said chamber and positioned to wipe said point during its entry to and withdrawal from the chamber; said wiper embodying a centrally apertured, rubber washer stretched across the chamber, the washer tapering towards the aperture to an approximately feather edge.

2. In a holder for fountain pens, a member having a longitudinal bore, an internal, annular flange on said member intermediate the ends of the bore and presenting a downwardly facing shoulder, and a pen-point wip or held within said bore and against said flange, shoulder.

3. In a holder for fountain pens, a memher having a longitudinal bore, a cup-bushing near one end of said bore and defining a pen-point receivng chamber, and a penpoint wiper in said chamber and positioned to wipe said point during its entry to and withdrawal from the chamber.

4:. In a holder for fountain pens, a memher having a pen receiving chamber, and a pair of pen point wipers in said chamber and positioned to wipe successively the point during its entry to and withdrawal from the chamber; one of said wipers being an apertured washer, and the other wiper being a body of ink retentive material.

5. In a holder for fountain pens, a member having a pen receiving chamber, and a pair I of pen-point wipers in said chamber and positioned to wipe successively the point during its entry to andwithdrawal from the chamber; one of said wipers being an housing for the barrel and held between the base and said flange.

8. In a holder for fountain pens, a memher having a longitudinal bore, an internal annular flange on said member projecting into the bore and presenting an upwardly facing shoulder adapted to limit the extent of pen entry through said bore, and a pen point Wiper Within the bore and engaging the underside of the flange.

9. In a holder for fountain pens, a base, a pen-receiving barrel adapted to be detachably secured near one end to the base, an ex ternal shoulder on the barrel Which is in 0pposed relation to the base, and a detachable housing for the barrel held between the base and shoulder.

In Witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 29th day of March, 1926.

CAREY G: GREGORY. 

